There is an absence of heavy-duty off-road equipment applications for automated, integrated and synchronized idle reduction that address and solve the underlying causes of excessive engine idle time. Internal combustion engines in heavy equipment (e.g. mining, construction equipment and vehicles, such as haul trucks, earthmovers, loaders or the like) typically idle anywhere between 15-30%, but can under certain circumstances idle as much as 80% of the time.
Idling behaviors, habits, and practices are characteristically engrained as a result of operator traditions and historical practices, outdated perceptions of mechanical limitations, operator comfort and convenience, and safety issues. Heavy equipment operators have generally been taught through tradition by experienced operators and equipment suppliers that the equipment should never be turned off during operations so as not to damage components such as starters, or impede rapid equipment startup for immediate operations or for continued, efficient production. Because these beliefs run deep, and are generally based on both real and exaggerated concerns, operators can be unmindful/heedless of the excessive amount of time they are allowing their equipment to idle, the tremendous amounts of fuel that are wasted during those idling times, and the costly negative impact this idling has on component and engine lives. Subsequently, heavy equipment operations often treat idle as an inevitable byproduct of production and are usually inattentive to the excessive and unnecessary cost and environmental impact associated with engine idling.
Idling also reduces the life of the engine by adding unproductive operating hours to the engines, as well as causing more wear on engine components and leaving behind excessive soot and grime from unburned fuel. Idle operations are also harder on an engine than when it is running at load. Extra avoidable preventative maintenance is required as the incremental and unproductive idle hours are accrued, resulting in greater cost, labor and reduced productivity. In addition, while heavy equipment is idling, burning of excess fuel increases air pollution through engine exhaust emissions that affect both the environment as well as the workers in the area of the excessive idling activities.
In addition to tradition and culture as causes of unnecessary idling, the equipment operating environment contributes to the underlying causes. Systems currently exist to automate shutting engines down, but that is typically all they do. Similarly, there are systems that can act on the cab climate or engine temperature, or provide power to auxiliary equipment. These are typically stand-alone systems that are turned on manually by the operator. In addition to the cultural impediments to relying on these stand-alone solutions, another challenge is that off-road equipment operators work in diverse settings and locations. Weather conditions, ambient temperatures, inefficiencies and limitations in work operations and production schedules (e.g. shift changes, equipment down time due to repairs) all affect idle time. For example, a driver operating a haul truck in the pit of a remotely located mine where the ambient temperature could be well below zero needs warmth in his cab both for his comfort and to operate the equipment safely.
It is generally assumed to be difficult to reduce idle in these situations as the drivers/operators need comfort, radios and lights must be functioning for safety, and the equipment must be immediately operational, even though they are idling while waiting, for example, in a queue to be loaded; for poor or inclement weather conditions to change; for a repair to be completed to continue the operation; or other reasons. The idling situations that have been addressed to date in on-road applications have not had the same safety or operational constraints faced by the off-road equipment, and have therefore not required integrated automation. Furthermore, anti-idle laws have provided the motivation for on-road truck/bus companies to require their drivers to turn off engines rather than idle them, whereas no such laws govern off-road mining operations.
Off-road equipment and on-road vehicles powered by internal combustion engines are significant contributors to air pollution and account for, by some estimates, more than 25% of the total energy and 70% of the total petroleum consumed in the United States. Further, fuel consumption and the pollution resulting therefrom impose a variety of health, economic, and environmental burdens on society. For example, exhaust byproducts of internal combustion engines make the air more difficult to breathe and are generally thought to harm the natural environment. Moreover, liberal and/or wasteful use of the Nation's and World's petroleum reserves depletes these reserves at an unwise and potentially unnecessary rate.